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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28364877">4A. Banlaw, A One-Shot.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfpick/pseuds/Ren'>Ren (halfpick)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Uuwi ka rin: GSP Mid-season One-Shots [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Gaya Sa Pelikula (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Birthday, Bubog-free, Christmas, Fluff, M/M, Pancakes, movies - Freeform, tahanan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:54:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,719</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28364877</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfpick/pseuds/Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Vlad wakes up on December 25th and finds everything Christmas-themed in their shared unit replaced by birthday favors,  spring rolls, fried chicken and birthday pancakes. How does this Grinch take in this new phenomenon - an unprecedented anomaly named Karl Frederick Almasen?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Karl Frederick Almasen/Jose Vladimir Austria</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Uuwi ka rin: GSP Mid-season One-Shots [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2097174</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>4A. Banlaw, A One-Shot.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This work of fiction is based on an alternate reality retelling of the Gaya sa Pelikula webseries created by Juan Miguel Severo and presented by Globe Studios. The events depicted take place between the fourth and fifth episodes.</p><p>Original (and condensed) One-Shot posted 19 Dec 2020 on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/haIfpick/status/1339998925676183553?s=20">Ren's 4A. Banlaw, A One-Shot.</a></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p>
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  <b> <em>Tahan, tahan na</em> </b>
</p><p>“Ano ‘yun, Karl?” It confused you for a second.</p><p>You hesitate, but <em>no</em>. You know EXACTLY what you saw. That blink-and-you’ll-miss-it split second look, then he whiplashes away from your gaze.</p><p>Was it really the <em>Crap! Don’t look, he’ll know...</em> reflex? You ask yourself. And your gut tells you it was. You’ve seen that look and you can tell. You’ve had that look yourself.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>Tahan, tahan na</em> </b>
</p><p><em>Why am I even thinking about this?</em> You pose the question as if to delude yourself from what it is that you <em>really</em> want it to be. There's now that anchor that has prevented you from looking away from Karl for longer than three seconds. You might as well start counting how many times he bats his unbelievably long lashes in a minute, because it wasn't going to be a hard task at all. Admit it, Vladimir. You <em>may</em> have just been smitten.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>Dito sa ‘king yakap, may tahanan ka</em> </b>
</p><p>You take a moment to shake it off. C'mon, let's get real here. It couldn’t have been <em>THAT</em>, right? This is Karl. You know Karl isn’t into guys. But why did he look at you that way?</p><p>Trying to distract yourself, you take out your phone and pretend to film yourself. But what you're really trying to do is secure a memory of the boy whose efforts today have been monumental in your books. Your face barely in the frame, you zero in on Karl and how innocently he succumbs to what he's watching. While you on the other hand, slowly succumb to something else. And <em>THAT</em> idea, the <em>possibility</em>, of Karl <em>maybe</em> feeling some sort of way toward you had managed to latch onto your brain, in its deepest recesses. You stop filming before he notices, and take a mental note to document more later.</p><p><em>Focus on the movie</em>, you said.</p><p>But you still can’t help but steal glances of the boy next to you alternating sniffling and munching on his chips drenched in soda. The way he has been engrossed with everything he's watching, the way he absorbs everything like a newbie film buff, the way this has been a constant every time you do this. Except today, he prepared food for your birthday.</p><p> </p><p>“At the very least I owe him,” You thought to yourself.</p><p> </p><p>No one has ever thrown you a birthday party – let alone gone through the trouble of taking down what Christmas decorations they painstakingly put up just so they can redecorate your space to make it all about you. You didn’t think anyone would tell that Higher Power to take a backseat and dedicate the day to you instead. Not even your ex who would have had to make excuses to miss it because he can't tell his folks about you or spend time with you because Christmas was a <em>family occasion</em>.</p><p>And what were you? Chopped liver?</p><p>For the rest of the movie, you wage an internal battle to try and taper your, <em>ugh</em>, feelings. The only thing that trips your train of thought is when Karl randomly reacts to what you’re watching. You find yourself immediately wafting back to random thoughts around a trait that Karl demonstrates after you respond to said reaction. You would notice how his lips quiver just before he starts his crying spells. How his eyes fill with wonder every time he picks up a clue to a possible plot twist. How he detestably concedes when he finds out you were right about a character all along and he didn't believe you. How tenderly he looks at you when he thinks you're not paying attention to him during a touching scene in a movie.</p><p>How you would have liked to look back at him just as tenderly and smile; maybe take his hand and let it rest, nestled in yours... <b>Hold it! Too much.</b> You shake the idea off.</p><p>So you tell yourself he was just being kind-hearted and perceptive. Karl was always a care bear, that was all. You try not to read into it too much. You know his parents are probably the most well-meaning of all the parents you know, including your own. It shouldn't come as a surprise that their only child turned out to be so generous and caring despite his irrational hatred towards washing dishes. Besides that, Karl is quite thoughtful. Funny how his thoughtfulness as a roomie even exceeded that of your ex when he was still your boyfriend.</p><p>But do roomies really <em>do</em> these kinds of things? Take time away from their loved ones to be with you? Make you feel this special?</p><p> </p><p>The movie ends, and he looks oddly satisfied. He takes in his first deep breath, exhales. The credits continue rolling. You turn to him expecting to hear him start rambling about what he thought of the film.</p><p>You heave, you hold your breath and look at him, anticipating his assessment. He instead breaks out a full grin.</p><p>“Kain muna tayo dinner?” He jerks his head towards the table where he moved all your <em>handa</em>. "Mukhang gutom ka na e... Kanina ka pa walang imik habang nanonood tayo."</p><p><em>You're not just saying that, right?</em> You ask yourself how he was able to tell what you were or weren't doing when the entire time his eyes were glued to the monitor. Was he really paying attention to you? Or was he just pulling your leg?</p><p>"Kung gusto mong pag-usapan yung movie, pwede naman habang kumakain tayo." He assures you he won't bug you unnecessarily about the movie but would welcome any input you have about it. Knowing Karl, he may have thought you didn't like it that much and just didn't want to say anything that could ruin today. It dawns on you that this is probably the most attention you've received in, well, years. Karl managed to pick up on your silence in a mere two hours when your ex couldn't even tell you had been quietly having misgivings about his lack of time for you for days on end.</p><p>“...Tapos nood tayo ng pambanlaw,” he says as he promptly stands up. "Ikaw naman ang pumili," which confirms your suspicion that he thinks you didn't fancy that last movie.</p><p>He then does the most unexpected thing and holds his hand out for you to grab onto so he can help you up. "Mmm." his signature prompt, but with the cutest pout as a bonus today.<br/>
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</p><p><b>How many more birthday gifts is this boy going to give you?</b> As if the birthday pancakes weren't enough to jog your memory about what it was like to actually be happy on your birthday.</p><p> </p><p>This gesture causes you to recall your theme song test; and you do not cringe at all. Not at you dancing like a fool with his gift pressed against your chest. Nor that you felt his warmth around you as you imagined him holding you; his breath on your neck and how it felt right in every possible way. You wish it were real - and that would have been the birthday gift you would have cherished the most. To be held and feel what it was like for someone to keep holding you and not let go.</p><p>"Vlad?" He looked at you, concerned, his hand still out; you suddenly drifted off for a bit. You snapped back to reality and shuffled to get up.</p><p>You take his hand, as unassumingly as you can humanly manage, trying to avoid his eyes. What would it be like if you met his gaze? What more chaos could befall your already confused heart? You straighten your head out and try to keep acting normal.</p><p>“Sure, game ako sa pambanlaw na film," finally, you answered. "Pero okay lang bang mamaya na ‘ko maghugas ng mga pinggan after nating manood ulit?” You pleaded, still looking away from him while he gave you a tug to get on your feet.</p><p>You see Karl’s expression light up from the corner of your eye as he lets out a snicker masked under his breath, “Huy joke lang yun! Syempre ‘di kita paghuhugasin ng pinggan. Birthday mo parin naman!”</p><p>That does it. You couldn't help but look at him now. What possessed him to cut you this much slack on your birthday?</p><p>For a second you forget that you hadn’t let go of his hand until he tilts his head looking at yours then right back at you – your eyes now meet. You give him your best and barely audible “Oops,” and take back your hand.</p><p>He turns to the table and excitedly approaches the food.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>Tahan, tahan na</em> </b>
</p><p>You trail behind him trying to collect yourself from everything that’s happened so far. This has been the best birthday surprise you've received. Ever. It's probably the only one you've had since you started growing stubbles of facial hair. The biggest surprise wasn't that it was a surprise, but who orchestrated it. It was someone who was not even family or a long-time friend and had no obligation to put this together.</p><p>“I have to make it up to him somehow,” You pin the thought at the top of your to-dos.</p><p>He hands you your plate and utensils, and starts serving you food.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>Tahan, tahan na</em> </b>
</p><p>You can't stop looking at him now – your eyes fixed at his actions.</p><p>How he's carefully picking the fried chicken parts he knows you like, even if you've only had a measly discussion about it on your second night. He then generously clasps as many spring rolls that could fit in your plate, never mind that it was going to be more than what he could put in his. It's hard to miss how he has snarky remarks about your lack of enthusiasm to wash dishes, yet he still waves around that free pass he's given you for your birthday thinking that it's the gift you would most appreciate.</p><p>What Karl doesn't know is that it's him. <b><em>He</em></b> is the gift. You are hoping he is <em>your gift</em>, too.<em><br/>
</em></p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>Dito sa ‘king yakap, may tahanan ka</em> </b>
</p><p><b>“Screw it. I’ll give it a try,”</b> You thought as he finished filling your plate. You give him your most earnest, warmest <em>Thank you</em>.</p><p>He looks at you and smiles. <em>That's a sign</em>, you smile back.</p><p><br/>
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